Invalid&#39;s and cripple&#39;s bed appliance



Oct. 13, 1925 G. W. HOYLE INVALIDS AND CRIPPLBS BED APPLIANCE Filed March 25 2 2 Sheets-sheet 1 Y //VV/VTOR George W. Hoyle ATTOR/Vfy oct- 13, 1925- G. W. HOYLE INVALIDS AND CRIPPLE'S BED APPLIANCE Filed March-25. 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOK W. Hay-Le Geqzle B 553,325. A TTORI EY Patented Oct. 13, 192

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. HO'YLE, OF SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA.

INVALIDS AND CRIPIPLES 131171)A]?ZPLIANCIE).

Application filed. March 25, 1924. Serial No. 701,707.

which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for the purpose of aiding in the handling of bed-ridden people, my principal object being to provide an appliance for the purpose adapted to be removably located adjacent the bed in which the patient is lying, and provided with various independently or simultaneously operated devices for supporting and raising the entire body of the patient as a whole, or for supporting one or more limbs in a fixed position while enabling the other portions of the body to be raised. 7

The necessity for raising a patientoff the bed at various times is well known to anyone who has had sick room experience, and such persons are also aware of the hard and diflicult work it very often is to raise the sick or helpless, as many as three persons being frequently necessary to satisfactorily perform the operation in the old way. Besides this, the practical impossibility of the raising movements of the attendants being timed so as to be in unison, very often causes great pain and discomfort to the patient.

Vith my improved appliance, a patient no matter if paralyzed, excessively weak from sickness or perhaps entirely well except for a broken limb, may be easily and quickly raised any necessary distance, and with but very little effort on the part of a single attendant being necessary.

The appliance is provided with different and independent forms of body supporting elements adjustable to, suit different conditions, which elements may or may not be raised together, depending on whether or not this is desirable;

The appliance being absolutely independ A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the comperspective view of the hook Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, A designates two end-frames, each consisting of a pair of standards 1 converging upwardly and rigidly connected together at their upper ends by means of a plate 2 and at their lower ends by a horizontal bar' 3. At an intermediate point, each pair of stand ards 1 is connected by a cross-bar 4-. At the head-end of the appliance, a central standard 5 connects two cross-bars 3 and 4, while at the foot-end of the appliance these two cross-bars are connected by a pairof standards 6. The two bottom braces 3 are connected by a longitudinal bar 7,'but this bar is made readily removable in order that the bed may be readily wheeled into position between the standards without lifting it from the floor. V i

The plates or brackets 2 are rigidly connected by a top-bar 8 which is desirably made of a series of short tubes connected together by couplings 9 nonturnably mounted thereon, each of which is provided with a pair of oppositely-extending nipples 10 internally threaded for the reception of the thread ed end of removable tubular bars 11, a number of these bars 11 being provided and all being interchangeable, to the end that the bars y b t ched tothe top-rod at various points in thelength thereof. Each of the supporting-bars 11 is desirably made hollow and provided with a slot 12 along its under side to enable apendent hook 13 to be adjustably supported on the bar. The

shank of the hook extends through-the slot and the upper end of the shank is provided with a head 14 roundedonzits under. sidezto fit the interior of the tube, each head being provided with an upstanding sharpened tooth t15.adapted-to bite into'the'top side of the tube when. a weight is i hung on the hook 13, to thus automatically. anchor the hook on ceivea-pin 23then projecting into thepath of movement of the handle.

Hung on certain longitudinally spaced ones of the pins 17 is a pair of ropes or cables 24, whose lower ends are loopedas-at 25 to slip over the respective ends of apair.

of side bars-.26 adapted =t0be removably passed through .hems 27 --forn1ed "lengthwise at the edges Joiia sheet'28 of canvas or the like andcl'orniing a hammock. Toho'ld'the loops '25 "from :possibly sliding oil the bars.

26;,the lillitGIfllil-VG-GOHELIS 29 on theirwends. anjd'to prevent the lo'ops' from'sliding along the bars, I applyzto each cable andtheadjacent barenfd a. double hook member 30,the

bars being hollow. and open-ended. Spreader or spacer :bars '31 are adapted'to be re? movably attached :to the ends of thez-bars 26 and to extendtransversely therebetween, the length ofthe spacers'being suiliciently less than the width of the canvas, so that when thespacers are applied,-thecanvas will have a considerable. sag, as shown in :Fig. 1. The purpose .of this arrangement will be seen hereinafter.

rThe hammock 28 is located under the head end of a bed in connection with which the appliance-is-tobe used. It should beofsu fficient length to extend fromabove the head of a patient down rtozthe' hips, and its width should be at least equal to that-oi lillfizbGCl, for the reason hereinafter seen.

To support'the legs of the patient, different forms of 'slingslor hammocks, usable in conjunction with the main hammock 28, may be employed, depending on different conditions to be met.

Three difierent types and arrangement of such 121(ldltl0113l *hammocks or slings are shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3.

The lowerend form of hammock shownin Fig. l ispractically identicalin construction, shape and manner of supporting the same as the main hammock 28, though possibly somewhat shorter and narrowerifdesired. The cables 33 which support this lower hammock are looped over certain of the pins 17 so that a space of a foot more or less is had between the two hammocks. In the lower hammock, the spreader bars may or may not be used, this depending .onthe circumstances of the case.

Thisihammockarrangement is usable when the patient issick but is notafliicted with a broken lower limb.

:In thel-atter case, a leg sling 3 1 as shown in Figs-'2 and 3 may be employed to sup port the broken or fractured member. If both legsare broken, two independent slings are of course used, though 1 have only deemed it necessary to show one of the same.

{There areseveralways in whichthis sling maybesupported,two of which are shown in said figures.

@If it is desired :to support the leg in a fixedhorizontal position atall'times, irrespectiveof'theraisingof the remainder of thebody, theioables 35 of the sling may be connected directlyto the hooks 13 carried byithe arms '11, which would beipositioned in those ones of the nipples 10 which are properly, located, asshown in Fig. 2.

Since the hooks are adjustable in the slotted arms, the spacing of the sling from the (center :of the bed, or its angular positioning relative to the longitudinal plane thereof, may be altered at will.

.If'the leg is in sucha condition that it maybe raisediand lowered withthe rest of the body, anumber of sheaves 36 (See Fig. 3) is supported by the hooks l3-of suitably located. arms 11, these hooks 1 being disposed adjacent opposite endsof the arm-slots.

.I ndividualcables 87, looped at one end over adjacent pins 17 pass around the sheaves and are suitably connected at their lower ends'to the sling34.

To enablea fractured limb to be maintained ina stretchedcondition, as is desir-' able, I provide-each-standardfi with a vertieal and longitudinally disposed slot 39, and with .a plurality of vertically spaced bolt .holes 40 crossing the slot.

Mounted in the slot is a sheave ilyheld in a verticallyadjustable positionby means of an axial pin 42 removably passed through anysof-the holes 40. The positions of the sheave may/thus be adjusted to any height within the range of the-slot.

Acord or cable 43 is run over the pulley andcarriesat-its lower end a suitable weight. 44 while its opposite end is attached to a and on which the patient lies, these canvases being so placed before the patient first. occupies the bed.

At such times, the side bars 26 are removed from the canvases and kept under the bed or in any other suitable location,

and the various ropes are hung up out of the way on the frame of the appliance.

lVhen it is desired toraise the patient, the side edges of the canvases are uncovered so as to enable the bars 26 to be slipped into place in the hems 27, and the ropes 24 and 33 are connected to the proper ends of the bars as hereinbefore described.

The handle 21 is then turned to the right so as to cause the ropes to be wound about the shaft sufficiently to raise and draw togetl er the sides of the canvases to a point above the body of the patient without actually raising him. Rotation of the shaft is then halted while the spacers 31 are placed in position, preventing further converging movement of the sides of the canvases and converting them into hammocks of definitely maintained sizes, in which the patient may lie without discomfort. and without the danger of a further lifting of the canvases tending to wrap about and squeeze him. Further rotation of the shaft will then cause the hammocks, with the patient lying therein, to be raised easily and quickly to any desired distance, and with the aid of but a single attendant, since one person can if necessary connect up the canvases to their ropes, place the spacer bars, and turn the raising-control handle.

' The bed may then be pulled out and aired or remade before lowering the patient back into the bed.

Duplicate sets of the canvases should be kept, so that when necessary a fresh set, and clean coverings, may be laid out on the bed while the patient is supported by another set. Then when the patient is again lowered into bed, the original set may easily be drawn out from under the patient.

If a type of sick bed is used whose head portion slopes upwardly, the hammock may be made to assume the desired angle by slipping the ropes lengthwise over the pins, so that the head end will be'raised and the other end lowered.

If the appliance is only used by a single individual, it may be permanently stationed over the bed, since it does not interfere in any way with the ministrations of a nurse or doctor.

If the device is used in a hospital, it may be easily shifted from one bed to another as the occasion demands, since its use in. connection with any one patient at a time is but temporary.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the-spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Q

l. A bed appliance including a vertical and rigid frame, adapted to straddle a bed lengthwise thereof, a plurality of body supporting elements arranged between the end members of the frame, means supporting one of said elements in a manner to enable the same to be raised and lowered at will, and means supporting the other element from the frame in a manner to enable the transverse position of the same relative tn the other element to be altered at will while enabling both elements to be raised and lowered in common.

2. A bed appliance including a vertical and rigid frame, adapted to straddle a bed lengthwise thereof, a horizontal shaft journaled in the frame and extending lengthwise of the bed, a plurality of radial and longitudinally spaced pins on the shaft, a hammock, and cables attached to the hammock and adapted to be detachably connected to any of the pins in a manner to cause the cables to be raised and lowered upon the turning of the shaft.

3. A bed appliance embodying a frame adapted to straddle a bed lengthwise thereof, a shaft journaled in the upper end of the frame and provided with projecting pins, a hammock, and apair of cables connected to the four corners of the hammock and adapted to be slidingly looped over the pins.

4. A bed appliance comprising a frame adapted to be adjusted astride a bed lengthwise thereof, a longitudinal bar in the top of the frame provided with a plurality of sockets at spaced intervals, and a plurality of supporting-bars each of which is adapted to be engaged with any one of said sockets, each of these supporting bars being provided with means for supporting a sling.

5. A bed appliance comprising a frame adapted to be adjusted astride a bed lengthwise thereof, a longitudinal bar in the top of the framegprovided with a plurality ofv sockets at spaced intervals, and a plurality of supporting-bars each of which is adapted to be engaged with any one of'said sockets, each of these supporting-bars being provided with a pulley support, each ofsa-id pulley supports being longitudinally adjustable along the bars.

6. A bed appliance comprising a frame adapted tobe adjusted astride a bed lengthwise thereof, a longitudinal bar in the top of the frame provided with a pluralityof sockets at spaced intervals, and a plurality of supportingbars each of which is adapted to be engaged with any one of said sockets, each of these supporting bars being provided with a pulley support, each of said pulley supports being longitudinally adjusted along the bar, the adjustment means consisting of a slot on the under-side of the bar andthe pulley support consisting of a pendent hook having a headedshank workingin said slot, said head beingprovided with an upstandimg tooth adapted to bite into the upper side of the tube when the hook ispulled downwardly.

7. A bed appliance embodying a frame adapted to straddle a bed lengthwise thereof, the frame at the foot-end thereof being provided with'a pair of standards each carrying a vertically-adjustable pulley adapted to carry the rope of a leg-sling, means forindepende'ntly adjusting the pulleys consistingof a longitudinal slotformed ineach standard and a plurality of holes extending transversely through the standard, and a removable-bolt or pin adapted to serve as a journal for the pulley.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE WV. HOYLE. 

